Super-Italian: More Than 110 Indulgent Recipes Using Italy's Healthiest Foods

by Giada De Laurentiis

Discover the Italian approach to healthful eating, where nothing is off the menu, with 100 delicious, superfood-packed recipes from New York Times bestselling author Giada de Laurentiis.

From the day she started cooking professionally, Giada’s fundamental formula for making meals memorable has not good cooking = Technique + Ingredients + Ambience. In writing her eleventh (yes, eleventh!) cookbook, she shows that this same formula is the key to good health when you choose ingredients that promote wellness, cook them simply, and eat them joyfully. In her skillful hand, a pantry of Italian superfoods is the starting point to better health and longevity. 

We all know that some foods can cause inflammation, weight gain, and other maladies that lead to chronic illness, but we rarely think about the fact that the flip side is equally A diet rich in a variety of nutrients can make a world of difference in how you look and feel. Super-Italian helps the reader stock their shelves with healthy Italian superfoods and create meals that are nutritionally dense, supportive of health, and still downright craveable. Super-Italian starts with a deep dive into fourteen Italian staples that qualify as superfoods and then gives us 100 recipes for using them in meals that feel completely indulgent. Among the superfoods featured

Olives + olive Umbrian Chicken Stew with Green Olives, Kale Salsa Verde, and Grilled Swordfish with Olive Bagna Cauda
Beans + Legumes: Artichoke Dip with White Beans, Crunchy Roasted Butter Beans, and Creamy Cannellini Beans
Cruciferous vegetables: Winter Beans and Greens Soup, Orecciette with Almond Pesto and Broccoli Rabe, and Green Gazpacho
Small Caesar Aioli, Pasta Assassina, and Anchovy Pasta with Walnuts
Balsamic Chocolate Truffles, Grilled Endive Salad with Citrus and Pancetta, and Filet Mignon with Gorgonzola and Balsamic
Sicilian Pesto, Tomatoes Gratinata, and Calabrian Pomodoro

By using carbs and fats mindfully and amplifying vegetables, lean proteins, and flavor-boosting superfoods at every meal, Giada shows how easy it is to eat like an Italian. With 100 stunning photographs of finished meals and their superfood components, Giada teaches us that when you start with truly excellent, minimally processed ingredients, simply prepared, you can have your pasta and eat it too!

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Italian Literature, Food

272 pages, Hardcover

Published March 4, 2025

About the author

Giada Pamela De Laurentiis is an Italian American chef, entrepreneur, writer, and television personality. She was the host of Food Network's program called Giada at Home. She also appears regularly as a contributor and guest co-host on NBC's program entitled Today. De Laurentiis is the founder of the catering business GDL Foods. She is a winner of the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lifestyle Host and the Gracie Award for Best Television Host. She was also recognized by the International Hospitality Institute as one of the Global 100 in Hospitality, a list featuring the 100 Most Powerful People in Global Hospitality.

Reviews

[Miss✧Pickypants ᓚᘏᗢ · Rating 3 out of 5]

My sense is this 10th book from the author is a vehicle to drive traffic to her website to increase sales. In the intro she explains how she has pivoted to running her online store that sells ingredients sourced from Italy. The good news is you can make the included dishes with ingredients you source from wherever you get them, you don't need to buy them from her site. The not so great news is the book itself is just meh.

The recipes are well-written and are fairly familiar, the only one that was a bit unexpected was the Pasta Assassina that was a viral sensation not too long ago. Was also surprised at the lack of photos of the finished dishes, there are some but less than what you might expect.

If you are looking for an adequate collection of healthy-ish Italian dishes or are a super-fan of the author, then this book will meet those needs. But if you are looking for new takes on recipes that use Italy's Healthiest Foods, be forewarned that this premise is misleading. If you are familiar with Italian cooking then you know that these touted "healthiest foods" are germane to the cuisine, so nothing new here, best to just move along.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was not impressed with this cookbook. The subtitle of "...110 indulgent recipes using Italy's healthiest foods" made me roll my eyes a little. Everyone is trying to make healthy food "indulgent" or "sexy" or anything other than just healthy. I like Giada and I've watched her Food Network shows and use some of her recipes regularly. But I didn't really find anything in here I wanted to try. I did like that she talked about her "superfoods" and gave some info on them and also the first chapter with her essential condiments and basics. But overall, I wasn't super impressed with this one.

[Jamie Lynn Greco · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Giada and typically use lots of recipes from her books. This collection was unimpressive for me. Very few recipes were of interest except for a few desserts. I tried the cannoli rice pudding recipe and it was terrible. I actually wonder if it was tested - it was that bad! I’m glad I borrowed from my library vs purchasing. It went back in a week.

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always enjoyed Giada’s cooking whether in a cookbook, on TV or on Instagram. I feel I have evolved along with her cooking. I appreciated the personal reflections for each recipe with a nod to better health. My only disappointment is that each recipe doesn’t have a photo—personal preference. Overall, contemporary, simple, healthy, delicious!

[Margaret Gerberding · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has recipes for lighter Italian food without sacrificing flavor.

[Sharon Hanson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never read completely or recommended a cookbook but I am recommending this one. Giada's style of cooking is like the Amalfi Coast - fresh, clean, light (even most of the pasta dishes). She is focused on healthy ingredients and her recipes are always delicious and fairly easy to do. Highly recommend

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an extension of her first healthy cookbook. I enjoyed learning about the super foods that can easily be incorporated into Italian cooking. These recipes are light without feeling like it, and she always uses whole ingredients. For me, the salads and chicken recipes were the highlights; the cocktail and snack chapter was also good, and I enjoyed hearing her take on charcuterie. I didn't think the desert chapter was worth even including. I also didn't like that there wasn't a photo for each recipe; there is for most, but not always near the recipe. And even though these use everyday ingredients, most of the recipes take at least an hour to cook, making them less appealing for weekdays. She's using a few cooking methods to coax the most flavor out of each ingredient.

I thought this was worth checking out. The recipes are lighter than most commercial Italian fare, and your family will not notice that the dishes are healthier - they are that good.

[Nadine in NY Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

First impressions: looks good, lots of nice photos of Giada relaxing in her kitchen. I wonder if she or the publisher skimped on a stylist, because a lot of the photos show her in the same outfit, same nail polish, and one photo (supposedly of a plate of pasta) is basically a photo of her boobs. Nice boobs, but not what I'm looking for in a cookbook.

To my surprise, I did not find many recipes I was interested in trying. Many recipes were just too fussy or time-consuming, or repeats of old recipes. I focused on the vegetarian choices.

The book does not QUITE lie flat, but it mostly stays open.

Overall impression after paging through: this doesn't feel like "Italy's healthiest foods," this feels like "recipes I found stashed in the back of my recipe box that I repurposed so I could publish one more cookbook even though I'm out of ideas." That's not to say it's BAD. Any recipe from Giada is a recipe worth considering. But it was disappointing.

Final verdict: so-so; some recipes are great, so it’s worth borrowing, but maybe not worth buying.


Recipes I tried:

Cavatelli with Eggplant and Smoked Mozzarella - turns out my Wegmans carries Campari tomatoes only in one pound packages, so I used 2 lbs instead of 1.5lbs, and the Wegmans cavatelli comes in a 2 lb bag so I used 2 lbs vs 1 lb (truly I could not imagine this recipe with LESS pasta), and my Wegmans has stopped carrying smoked mozzarella (I KNOW! How dare they??!!) so I substituted fresh mozzarella plus a "smoky pepper fontal" cheese I found for the smoky flavor (it is AMAZING and I ate a lot of it while the tomatoes were simmering - I considered myself lucky I had extra - buy it if you see it!! https://www.cellocheese.com/product/r...). We were a little hesitant when the directions said to add half the mozzarella cheese to the sauce, since that usually results in a stringy mess, but it worked out. This tasted amazing, and it was similar to a de-constructed eggplant parmigiana. All three of us loved this! Verdict: Big success!!

Spaghetti alla Cabiria - This is based on a recipe Dino De Laurentiis threw together from odds and ends he had on hand to feed the movie crew filming Le Notti di Cabiria. It's a lot of bell peppers, some anchovies, olives, basil, garlic, and tomato passata. I thought it was good but maybe not worth making again. Neve and Lily both loved it. Lily wants to make it again with some tweaks (more peppers, and add tomato sauce). Verdict: success

Nonna Luna's Cherry Cake - The recipe calls for 10-12 oz of cherries, and I have no idea how many cherries that is since I was using fresh from the farmer's market, and I don't have a kitchen scale, so we just guessed. My oven died midway through the bake, so I finished it by using the broiler (and moving the cake to the lower rack so it didn't burn), so this wasn't the most fair trial. It tasted … okay. Verdict: fail (but maybe not the recipe’s fault, since my oven died)

Orange Olive Oil Cake - I had the ingredients so I brought them to my mother’s house to make it using her oven. It was supposed to have an aperol glaze, but i forgot to bring that, so I made a glaze with orange juice and vanilla. This cake was super easy to make, and it tasted amazing. We ate but one slice that first night. Verdict: AMAZING success

[Zac · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always enjoy learning from Giada and how simple she keeps her cooking so the ingredients can shine. My only complaint is that the cookbook didn't have photos for each recipe. That said, there were a number of recipes I'm looking forward to trying and I enjoyed the added tips that she shared at the beginning of the book.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good recipes, easy to cook. It's a good book of Italian recipes you'd expect from Giada.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took this cookbook out of the library. After reviewing all the tasty, healthy, easy recipes, it is definitely a cookbook I will own.

[Christina Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative. Great book. Should be a part of your collection.

[Claudia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not recommended for vegetarians.

[Tony Hatfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

The recipes in this book are amazing! Delicious and guilt free! A household staple for me.